High-speed printing of large volume documents has been performed by use of a page printer equipped with a xerographic recording engine. However, the page printer poses a problem of an increase in power consumption and noise in association with the high-speed characteristic of the page printer, as well as a problem of a complex structure which deteriorates reliability.
In order to solve the problem, there has been proposed construction of a recording apparatus by arranging a plurality of low-cost, low-noise ink jet recording heads or employing a lengthy ink jet recording head covering an entire paper width.
The recording apparatus of the former construction enables an increase in printing speed. However, since a plurality of recording heads are integrated, complicated maintenance is required. The recording apparatus of the latter construction requires design of a recording head with a new configuration, thereby incurring initial costs.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,596,416 has proposed that a controller collectively control a plurality of recording apparatuses having the same construction provided in a rack. The technique enables use of general-purpose recording apparatuses, thereby reducing costs. However, the ink jet recording apparatus cannot be employed hastily as such a general-purpose apparatus.
In general, low-cost ink jet recording apparatuses for-general use are constructed such that ink cartridges are provided on a carriage. Hence, restrictions are imposed on the amount of ink for ensuring a carriage speed. In the field of applications where a large volume of print products are produced commercially, much time is required for replenishing the cartridges with ink.
Consequently, it is an object of the present invention to provide an ink jet recording apparatus which simplifies replenishment of cartridges with ink while an attempt is made to curtail costs and which enables high-speed printing operation with high reliability.